


It's Stranger than You Think

by SioDymph



Category: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Stranger Things Fusion, Crossover, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 10:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18071603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: What if Stefan found out he could have a third option? With it he discovers a new pathway and a conspiracy that goes much deeper than PACs. Faced with the truth Stefan takes Colin on an entirely new path that neither ever saw coming and head out to Hawkins, Indiana.Meanwhile on the other side of the world Kali finds an important detail to her case and discovers she and Jane aren’t the only ones with strange gifts. And though their relationship is rocky, Kali tries to seek out her little sister for help reaching out to the only other know surviving test subjects from Hawkins National Laboratory.





	It's Stranger than You Think

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok I finally got together a first chapter for this story! I got so inspired after playing Bandersnatch on Netflix and couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like if he and Colin met the likes of El and Kali, and this ended up being the end result. 
> 
> I have a lot of plans for this story but for now I hope you enjoy! (And sorry for any grammar and spelling errors I may have missed)

Stefan was at his wits end.

Between meeting Colin, going on his first trip, deciding to stop taking his medicine, fighting with his dad, arguing with his therapist, having several nervous break downs, all while trying to complete his game, Stefan had reached his breaking point.

Nothing felt real anymore. Even the choices he was being given didn’t make any sense. And between Colin being an enigma he still couldn’t approach well, Dr. Haynes acting so unhelpful and aloof and his father acting stranger and stranger with each passing day, Stefan didn’t know who he could trust. He could hardly even trust himself lately. Especially with all these flashbacks and dreams he couldn’t fully explain…

Somehow it all lead to this. This dream that felt far to real. Him sneaking into his father’s room and trying to break into his personal safe. Stefan didn’t even know why he was doing this. All he knew was one way or another this safe would give him an answer. It was a simple enough, only a three character-code, he could type in anything really.

It all depended on what he wanted most.

And like everything in his life his decision came in the form of two choices.

He could either type **_TOY_** and delve further back into his relationship with mother. Find the comfort he’d missed for so many years…

Or he could type in **_PAC_** and delve further back into his mysterious past. The one Colin had alluded to while high on LSD…

Those were his only choices…

 

The only problem was somehow he already knew how both paths ended.

                                        

He didn’t know how to explain it. He felt trapped in a maze that only he could see. Well, only he and Colin could see it technically. He’d always felt like his life was just webs of choices. But ever since he went to Tuckersoft that first day it felt like that was when the trap was really set. Since then whenever he made a poor choice, or even simply got the sinking feeling in his gut he’d done something wrong, next thing he knew he was waking up to his dad giving him cereal, then taking the bus to his first day on the job. And while the rest of the world seemed to forget all the changes and mistakes he made, Stefan couldn’t. And unless he really was paranoid, Stefan knew Colin could remember these fake futures too. Whatever was going on, Stefan just knew that Colin Ritman was involved as well.

And now here he was, back on the path he swore he’d taken so many times already. He already knew what would happen to him and everyone he cared about if he typed in either code…

He didn’t know what else he could possibly do.

Was it worth it to keep going down the same two paths hoping that things would be different? Or that he’d find a new clue? Should he just give up until everything was reset again and he could try another path? Try something different earlier, so that he’s never stuck staring at this safe again and again? Were there any choices he had left? His life had always felt like a binary code, it could either be a zero or a one, on or off, right or left, there were no other choices. No other futures. He… he couldn’t do this.

But everything seemed to slow to a halt when he took one shaky step back.

The choice was still there, either type **_TOY_** or **_PAC_**. But… for now at least, it seemed like the choice was being put on hold. It was still there, and eventually he’d have to decide. But for a single moment, it was like his pathways were just lingering, willing to wait.

He took another step back, then another. Unable to look away from the safe, and everything he knew was already waiting for him inside.

He takes a few more steps back. It was like he was taking a third unseen option he never realized was there. Waiting.

And there was no count down, no forcing him to make a choice anyways. The universe was letting him put off making a decision.

He kept stepping back until he was out of his Dad’s room. And even as he shut the door and turned away he could still feel that choice still lingering. Calling out to him. He might have escaped for now but eventually he’d have a choice to make.

As he tried to walk back upstairs to his room everything still felt so wrong and off. The lighting in the hallway felt like it was spinning, constantly shifting the shadows. And everything seemed to have an unnerving haze, like he was high again.

He stopped halfway up the stairs when it felt like the whole house was moving and his knees went weak.

Suddenly hundreds of different pathways were opening up to him. They seemed to buzz around him. Hundreds of different voices, hundreds of different signs. All calling out to him at the same time. But he could only make out a few as they all overwhelmed him.

 

**_GO UP STAIRES_ **

**_GO DOWN STAIRES_ **

**_GO TO YOUR ROOM_ **

**_GO BACK TO THE SAFE_ **

****

“What… What is this?” Stefan gasped out. It felt like his head was throbbing. “Ugh! No!”

 

**_TAKE YOUR MEDICINE_ **

**_CALL FOR HELP_ **

**_FALL DOWN THE STAIRES_ **

**_JUMP OFF THE STAIRECASE_ **

****

“I- I don’t understand. What’s happening?” Stefan tried to speak up again. He felt like he was drowning. “Who are you?”

 

**_ESCAPE_ **

**_GIVE UP_ **

**_RUN_ **

**_HIDE_ **

****

“Stop, please this is too much!”

But the pathways wouldn’t stop.

 

**_STOP_ **

**_END GAME_ **

**_$AS#NDLV,Z_ **

**_CONTINUE_ **

****

“STOP!”

 

**_WAKE UP!_ **

 

Shrieking, Stefan lurched out of bed, clutching his chest and coughing roughly. He felt like he was about to be sick. It took him a few minutes of deep breathing for him to stop hyperventilating and for the throbbing in his head and stomach to die down.

That was… that’d never happened before. He’d never been able to postpone making a choice. And _never_ had he ever been given more than two pathways…

He was almost relieved when he saw two pathways open up while he tried to catch his breath.

He could either **_GET UP_** , most likely to get a drink of water. It was early morning, just after 3 am, if he got up now he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. And when morning finally came he’d have to try talking to his dad…

Or he could **_GO BACK TO SLEEP_**. But with that he had no idea what might happen if he did. For all he knew he might stumble back to that same dream he’d been trapped in before, forced to make a final decision that could end this pathway entirely. Or it could lead him to somewhere new…

Taking a few more calming breaths, he made his decision and closed his eyes.

Leaning back, he let his head softly hit his pillows. He hoped that wherever this strange pathway lead that it might provide him with answers. But even as he felt himself slip off once again he feared what might happen if he was faced with a hundred different decisions again.

 

He had no way of telling how long it took. But when he came back to himself he wasn’t in his room. He wasn’t even in his house.

The entire world was swallowed in darkness. Everything felt so empty and cold. Just above the ground was a small layer of water that left a chill that seeped into his feet and crept up his legs.

He waited a few moments but he couldn’t feel any pathways appear. It was just him alone, lost in the dark.

“Hello?” He called out. His voice echoed, seeming to stretch out forever. And nobody responded.

He’d never been in a place like this before. All that surrounded him was an inky void. No pathways. No decisions. There was nothing.

Not knowing what else to do, but hating how lost and empty he felt, Stefan chose a direction and began walking.

As he kept going nothing changed. The only way he could even tell he was moving forwards were the ripples left in the water beneath his feet. And he feared that somehow he’d done something wrong. This wasn’t working.

But then, in the distance, he swore he could see someone. A kid. Walking towards something Stefan couldn’t see.

Not even thinking twice, Stefan just shouted. “Hey!” and waved his hands frantically, running to try and reach them, “Hey kid!”

The kid looked over and backed up a few steps. As he got closer he realized the kid was a girl. Wearing a leather jacket over a pair of overalls. And she seemed really freaked out.

He slowed down and tried to put up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, sorry, I uh, I didn’t know if there would be anyone else here. Where are we? Do you know?”

The little girl looked over him carefully as he spoke. And in return she just replied with an american accent. “The Upside Down.”

“What? What is that?”

The girl just shrugged.

Any moment now, Stefan expected to hear his paths. Feel them open up and face a decision. To make a choice. But nothing continued to happen. And the girl just looked at him expectantly.

Feeling rather dumb, he decided to ask. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for someone.”

“Were you looking for me?”

The girl just shook her head. Pointing towards the direction she was walking. “Her.”

As the girl continued to walk, Stefan followed close behind. Maybe this kid was supposed to be his guide? Stefan had no idea, all he knew was now that he wasn’t alone there was no way he was about to lose this strange little american girl.

With no grip on time Stefan couldn’t tell how long they walked. But eventually another figure came into sight along the horizon. A girl, this one was around Stefan’s own age with hair highlighted purple and clad in dark clothes. But she seemed completely ignorant to the two people approaching her. As they got closer they saw she was pouring over notes and old papers surrounding her in a half-circle. When Stefan was finally within hearing distance he tried to call out to her, and either she was choosing to ignore him or really didn’t even know he was there. He felt like a ghost, unseen, unheard.

He looked over to the little girl in worry, but she simply shrugged and focused back on her friend. Watching as she poured over all her paperwork.

With nothing else to do Stefan followed suit. And as he looked over everything he couldn’t help but notice a clue. A label near the tops of many charts, research notes and letters.

Hawkins National Laboratory

Whatever all this was, it all must be stemming from this lab. At least that made the most sense to Stefan. But he still wasn’t sure how any of this information was important to him. Or why he was even spying on these two girls. Why he was being sent down this broken path at all. But whatever reason the Hawkins National Laboratory seemed to resonate with him. It all had to mean something.

The girl was muttering under her breath about bureaucracy as she reached for a manila folder and Stefan found himself leaning over her shoulder to get a good look as well.

When she opened it Stefan felt his entire face pale.

Inside the folder were pictures of him. A lot of him as a child. A few of his baby pictures. The most unnerving were the handful that looked like they had been taken a few years ago that he didn’t even recognize. Him and his dad walking down a sidewalk. Him riding the bus, leaning his head against the window. Getting his medicine from the pharmacy.

Along with all the pictures were papers from some sort of formal report. He couldn’t understand what they were trying to say but he knew somehow they had to all be about him as well. But four words were at the top of the paper and kept popping up everywhere in the report, and they chilled Stefan to his core.

Operation Program and Control

Program and Control. PACs was real. It wasn’t just the fever dream of an insane boy. It wasn’t just an excuse to get Stefan to kill his father on some twisted paths. It was real. And it was some sort of experiment funded by this american lab.

The little girl still at his side turned to him, for once looking worried.

“That’s you?”

All at once something seemed to snap into place around them. The other girl spun around, eyes desperate and sad.

“Jane!?”

But as soon as the other girl tried to connect with them, it was as if Stefan now had to be pushed out. He felt like a massive wind was forced onto his chest, sending him flying away from the strange girls. Spiraling back into the dark.

The little girl, Jane, tried to reach out for him but he’d already slipped away.

“Wait!” Jane shouted.

Her voice echoed through the void and seemed to reverbed off his skull. But there was nothing Stefan could do. He was being pulled out. He feared this pathway was closing for good. That he’d never know what any of this meant. He tried to call back to her but his voice felt swallowed by the wind surrounding him. He was powerless as he was pulled completely into the dark.

 

And he woke up back in his bed. Late morning. Unlike earlier this time he woke up peacefully; eyes fluttering, breathing light and easy. But there was still a pit of dread in his stomach.

Everything felt off, and it took Stefan a moment to realize his “Relax” alarm wasn’t going off. The story wasn’t done. This path hadn’t ended yet.

He could keep going if he chose to.

 


End file.
